Corner for box or the like



1957 w. F. HINDS 2,809,404

' CORNER FOR BOX OR THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1954 ECKHOFF 8 5L /CKATTORNEYS A MEMBER OF THE F/PM finite States Patent O CORNER FOR BOX ORTHE LIKE William F. Hinds, Palo Alto, Calif.

Application November 26, 1954, Serial No. 471,289

1 Claim. (Cl. 2092) This invention relates to a box or drawer or similararticle and particularly relates to a novel method of cornerconstruction for such an article.

The average home mechanic often has dilficulty with the cornerconstruction of a box or drawer since it is ordinarily necessary to makedove-tail or miter corners for such articles. Further, it is desirablein many instances to provide a box construction which can be easilydisassembled and shipped fiat. In addition, it is desirable to provide apre-fabricated corner structure that can be easily altered to fit boxesor drawers of diiferent heights.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cornerstructure which can be sold in the form of long strips and easily cut toany desired length by a home mechanic.

Another object of this invention is to provide a corner structure whichcan be assembled into a box or drawer using only easily available handtools.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a corner structureeasy to assemble and disassemble and yet which provides a strongstructure which may be left permanently assembled if desired.

In the drawings forming part of this application;

Figure l is a perspective view of a box or drawer employing my novelcorner construction.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the lines 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a corner of the box shown in Figure 1,partially cut away to show the method of assembling.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the corner of an assembled box, such as thatshown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the strip material which is used toform the corners in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings by reference characters, there is shown abox, generally designated 7, having a bottom 9, sides 11 and 13 and ends15 and 17. The novel corner elements are generally designated 19 andconsist of an external member 21 and two internal members designated 23and 25. The external member 21 has two inturned lips designated 27 and29 and in addition, has a central member 31 which terminates in theinturned lips designated 33 and 35. The internal member 23 has a 45angular bend designated 37 at about its mid point, and has two lips, oneof which designated 39 forms a 90 angle with the adjacent portion of thewall and the other of which, designated 41, is inturned as shown. Thecorresponding part 25 has similar lips thereon but is not describedseparately since it is the mirror image of part 23 and can be cut fromthe same length of stock.

In assembling a box using my novel corner means, it

2,809,404 Patented Oct. 15, 1957 is first necessary to make shallow sawkerfs near the ends of both sides of the side and end members of the boxas is shown. One of these kerfs has been designated 43 in Figure 3.After making the saw kerfs, it is only necessary to slip the externalmember 21 into the outside kerfs of two adjacent side or end members andthen slide the internal members 23 and 25 into the external member as isshown. If a permanent structure is desired, the interlocked lips 33, 35and 41 can be squeezed together, as with pliers.

If a box is made, such as that shown in Figure 3 Wherein the bottom ofthe box is set into sides and ends by a rabbet, the internal members 23and 25 will be correspondingly shorter than the exterial member 21. Onthe other hand, if the bottom is merely nailed to the outside of the boxall three members can be of the same length.

Although my novel corner elements can be pre-cut to various lengths toproduce boxes of various heights, it is contemplated that in normal use,corner elements will be sold in long strips, such as is illustrated inFigure 5 and then cut to length for the individual box to be constructedby the user.

As was stated earlier, the member 23 (and, of course, member 25) has abend of about 45 near its mid point. It is apparent that the position ofthis bend largely determines the thickness of the board which can beaccommodated, so that by merely changing the position of this bend,boards of various thicknesses can be accommodated. Thus, a store couldstock a single size of part 21 and several sizes of part 23 to providecorner fittings for a considerable range of board thicknesses.

Various methods of fabrication can be used in making my novel cornerelements. For instance, they can be made by bending lengths of sheetmetal, can be cast or extruded. Corner elements are particularlyadvantageous when made of a metal such as soft aluminum which is easilycut with ordinary woodworking tools.

It is believed apparent from the above description that I have providedan inexpensive, novel method of constructing a corner element whichenables anyone using only ordinary hand tools to construct asatisfactory box or drawer.

I claim:

A corner construction for a box or the like comprising an externalmember having two sides at right angles to each other, each of saidsides terminating in a first inturned lip making a angle with theadjacent side, an internal central member extending from the point ofjuncture of said sides, said central member having a second pair ofinturned lips thereon, a pair of internal members each having aninternal edge slideably engaging one of the second inturned lips of thecentral member and each having outside edges terminating in inturnedlips, the first inturned lips of the external member and the inturned lis of the internal members engaging and holding kerfs of a board placedbetween them.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS157,399 Holmes Dec. 1, 1874 731,946 Phipps June 23, 1903 1,305,492 QuassJune 3, 1919 1,885,330 Cherdron et al Nov. 1, 1932 2,188,090 Young Jan.23, 1940 2,653,360 Woodworth Sept. 29, 1953

